Football in Kolkata

Mohun Bagan taking on Bayern Munich at the Salt Lake Stadium.

Football is one of the most popular sports in Kolkata, West Bengal.[1] Kolkata is known to be the hub of Indian football with the two most supported teams in the country being based within the city –Mohun Bagan and East Bengal . Both teams play against each other in the Kolkata derby.[2] The city is also home to the biggest stadium in India, the Salt Lake Stadium, which as of 2015 has a capacity of 68,000. The record attendance of 131,000[3] was set in 1997 in a match between East Bengal FC and Mohun Bagan AC where East Bengal FC won 4-1.

Footballers who have visited Kolkata

Being India's football capital,many international footballing personalities have graced Kolkata with their visit. In 1977 Mohun Bagan played a friendly match against the famous North American Soccer League club New York Cosmos which featured Pelé .The match, which took place at Eden Gardens, had a match attendance of 80,000. The match ended 2-2. Others to visit Kolkata were Argentinean footballing legends Diego Maradona and current Argentinean footballing star Leo Messi. German legends like Franz Beckenbauer and Oliver Kahn have also made their visit. Best goalkeeper in football history, Russian footballer Lev Yashin made his first visit in 1955 and then in 1973. English World Cup winning legend Bobby Moore was the chief guest during the 1984 Nehru Cup. Emeka Ezuego,the Nigerian World Cupper played for East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting. Majid Bishkar the Iranian World Cupper played for East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting from 1980 - 1986. Cameroon footballing legend, Roger Milla came to play for Diamond Club in some exhibition matches in the Centenary Celebration of Mohun Bagan. Uruguay football captain Diego Forlan visited Kolkata in 2010. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge visited in 2010. Julian Caminho visited Kolkata twice—first in 1988 to play for East Bengal and again in 2011. MacDonald Mukansi played for East Bengal in 2007.

Others who also visited were Terry Paine, Carlos Alberto Torres, Enzo Francescoli, Valencia Ramos, Jorge Burruchaga, Ricardo Gareca, László Kiss, Nicky Butt, Włodzimierz Smolarek, Andrzej Buncol, Eusébio, Ronald Koeman, Paul Breitner and Swansea City's Neil Taylor.

Footballers from West Bengal

The state of West Bengal has contributed many legends to Indian football, such as

In international footballing, Robin Dutt is the manager of Bundesliga club, Werder Bremen.

Arjuna award winners

1.P.K Bannerjee

2.Chuni Goswami

3.Arun Lal Ghosh

4.Prasun Banerjee

5.Sudhir Karmakar

6.Shanti Mullick

7.S. Bhattacharjee

8.Deepak Kumar Mondal

West Bengal football team

The West Bengal football team is an Indian football team representing West Bengal in the Santosh Trophy.

They have appeared in the Santosh Trophy finals 43 times, and have won the trophy 31 times, (the most by any team). Prior to 1972, the team competed as 'Bengal'.

Honours

Winners: (31 times) 1941-42, 1945–46, 1945–46, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1962–63, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982-83 (Shared with Goa), 1986–87, 1988–89, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2010–11, 2011-12

Runners-up : (12 times) 1944-45, 1946–47, 1946–47, 1960–61, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1974–75, 1985–86, 2006–07, 2008–09

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Football - the passion play in Kolkata". IBN Live. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "Mohun Bagan VS East Bengal". FIFA. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  3. ↑ http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/1064/i-league/2011/11/19/2762641/mohun-bagan-vs-east-bengal-the-deadly-derby-awaits-please-fasten-
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